SusanLerner

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (SPTSX) closed up 72.03 points, or 0.9 percent, at 8,521.39. The S&P/TSX 60 Index of blue chips rose 1.1 percent, the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index of small cap issues ended higher by 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq Canada Index of Canadian stocks trading in the U.S. climbed 1.4 percent.

Six of the TSE's 10 sector gauges ended to the downside, led by a 2.3 percent slide in energy. Materials led the gainers with a 2.6 percent rise.

As for individual stocks, Nortel (NT) paced the tech sector, surging C$1.62, or 18.5 percent, to close at C$10.38.

After Thursday's market close, the telecommunications equipment company reported fourth-quarter net income of $499 million, or 11 cents a share, reversing a loss of $168 million, or 4 cents, a year earlier. The latest quarter's results included a gain of $109 million related to discontinued operations.

Revenue shot up 12 percent to $2.83 billion from $2.53 billion in the year-ago quarter. In the prior quarter, Nortel's sales totaled $2.27 billion. See full story. After the results, Bear Stearns upgraded the company to "peer perform" from "underperform."

Meanwhile, Dalsa Corp. (DSA), a maker of digital imaging components, posted fourth-quarter earnings of 25 Canadian cents a share compared with earnings of 21 Canadian cents a share in the prior year and 5 Canadian cents a share ahead of the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

The stock rocketed C$2.76, or 18.8 percent, to end the session at C$17.46.

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported that gross domestic product was essentially unchanged in November. For the first 11 months of 2003, GDP was up 1.8 percent over the same period of 2002.

In the currency market, the Canadian dollar ended at 75.52 cents versus the U.S. currency, up from Thursday's 75.15-cent close.

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